JBL Tune Beam 2 offers value-for-money features topped with great audio output

The earphones inside, however, have a very traditional design. But they are comfortable to wear and stay in place even if you are going for a run.

The JBL app lets you set up noise cancelling customised the way you want. And if you are planning to binge-watch a video series on your phone or iPad, there is even a video mode here. You can customise what the gestures on the earphone do for you and even change the language of the voice prompts — there are no Indian languages available, though. There is a full equaliser on offer, as well as preset spatial audio modes. Plus, Personal-Fi lets you personalise the headphones for you. This feature did not work for me, though… maybe because I was always in noisy environments. What is good here is that you don’t usually get a full-fledged app with an equaliser at this price point.

The noise cancellation is pretty good and keeps out most loud elements around you. I could, for instance, hear the fan in my living room in a muted way while it almost killed the pressure cooker going off in the kitchen. When you have music on, you block out everything. On the flip side, I felt the earphones create a resonance inside the ears that makes you hear some things you are not used to, like your steps or gulping sounds from your mouth, when you don’t have anything playing.

The JBL Tune Beam 2 earbuds may look simple, but they pack powerful noise cancellation, rich audio, and customisable features. (Image: Nandagopal Rajan/The Indian Express)

But all this is forgotten when you start playing music. The JBL Tune Beam 2 has a mellowness that you crave while listening to your favourite playlists. This warmth is accentuated when you switch on spatial sound in the vocal preset. There is extreme bass and treble too, but after listening to Rushmere by Mumford & Sons, I felt the vocal preset was maybe the best I had heard in a long time. Nina Nesbitt’s Parachute only reaffirmed this. Despite the composition being minimalist, the noise-cancelling ensured I could enjoy everything.

I did not need to amp up the bass for the Thaikudam Bridge’s Kanne. But when I moved to the Extreme Bass preset, the earphones offered a perspective that made the percussions almost sync with your heartbeat, but never overwhelming.

Even something as loud and shrill as Nemesis by Ryllz, the earphones held on but offered the extreme lows just as intended. But I suggest trying stunts with the Max Volume Limiter feature on so that you keep your eardrums.

At Rs 5,499, the JBL Tune Beam 2 shines through as a value-for-money earphone that offers a lot of features and audio quality unheard of in this price range. That makes this an easy recommendation for those who want to maybe invest in their first noise-cancelling headphones, one that offers great audio experiences too.